Tag: Nagorno-Karabakh

  • Armenian-Americans Should not Allow Obama and Clinton to Bury Genocide Bill

    Armenian-Americans Should not Allow Obama and Clinton to Bury Genocide Bill

    sassounian31

    It was bad enough that Pres. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had failed to keep their campaign pledge to reaffirm the facts of the Armenian Genocide. They sunk to a new low last week, when Mrs. Clinton announced that she and the President opposed adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution by the full House, following its passage by the Foreign Affairs Committee.

    When asked by journalists why she and the President have reversed course on this issue, Mrs. Clinton unabashedly replied: “Well, I think circumstances have changed in a very significant way…. We do not believe that any action by the Congress is appropriate and we oppose it.” She added that the administration does not believe the full House “will or should” vote on the resolution. How can the facts of a genocide that took place 95 years ago change overnight? In reality, nothing has changed except Secretary Clinton’s moral compass, assuming she had one to begin with!

    It is shameful that the Obama administration is caving in to threats from a third world country that needs the U.S. more than the U.S. needs it. As Aram Hamparian, the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America said last week: “Turkey does not get a vote or a veto in the US Congress!” Neither does the U.S. President nor the Secretary of State, on a non-binding congressional resolution.

    A White House spokesman announced last week that the presidents of Turkey and United States had spoken by phone on the eve of the Committee vote. Soon after, Mrs. Clinton warned Committee Chairman Howard Berman that “further congressional action could impede progress on normalization of relations” between Turkey and Armenia. Strangely, Mrs. Clinton seems to have appointed herself as supreme arbiter of what’s in Armenia’s best interest, while Armenian-Americans and Armenia’s leaders have repeatedly declared that they support the adoption of the genocide resolution. Indeed, Mrs. Clinton has put herself in the ridiculous position of knowing better than Armenians what’s good for them!

    After claiming for months that the Armenia-Turkey Protocols have no preconditions and not linked to any other issue, Mrs. Clinton now asserts that the Protocols pave the way for a commission that is supposed to study the facts of the Armenian Genocide. “I do not think it is for any other country to determine how two countries resolve matters between them,” she stated. This confirms the worst fears of Armenian opponents of the Protocols. Clearly, the Secretary believes that ratification of the Protocols would prevent consideration of the Armenian Genocide issue by third parties. This is precisely what the Turkish side had been stating, to the dismay of most Armenians. Interestingly, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made a similar announcement last week, expressing his surprise that the Armenian Genocide resolution is once again on the agenda of the U.S. Congress. All along, the intent of Turkish leaders has been to stop third parties from raising the Armenian Genocide issue, as they drag out the Armenia-Turkey reconciliation process.

    It was no accident that almost all Congressmen, who spoke against the genocide resolution in the Foreign Affairs Committee, used the lame excuse that their opposition to this bill was prompted by a desire not to undermine the Protocols which ostensibly would bring Armenian-Turkish reconciliation. Despite their sugar-coated rhetoric, those who opposed the resolution and supported the Protocols were in fact acting against Armenia’s best interests on both counts. The Protocols are now dead and buried anyway, thanks to Turkey’s refusal to ratify them, unless Armenia accepted extraneous preconditions.

    While Armenian-American voters cannot settle their score with Pres. Obama this year, since he is not on the ballot in November, 18 of 22 opponents of the resolution are! Armenian-Americans should do everything in their power to prevent the re-election of all those who voted against the genocide resolution on March 4: Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Michael McMahon (D-NY), Mike Ross (D-AR), Brad Miller (D-NC), David Scott (D-GA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ron Paul (R-TX), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Mike Pence (R-IN), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Connie Mack (R-FL), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Ted Poe (R-TX), Bob Inglis (R-SC), and Dan Burton (R-IN). Bill Delahunt (D-MA) and John Tanner (D-TN) are retiring from Congress. Gresham Barrett (R-SC) is running for Governor, while John Boozman (R-AR) is a candidate for the U.S. Senate. The latter two should be opposed in their new campaigns.

    In addition, Armenian-Americans should campaign against the re-election of Steve Cohen (D-TN), Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and Kay Granger (R-TX), for sending a joint letter to Foreign Affairs Committee members urging them to vote against the genocide resolution. All three are members of the congressional Turkish Caucus.

    The next culprits are CEO’s of five major American aerospace and defense companies: Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., Raytheon Co., United Technologies Corp., and Northrop Grumman Corp. They sent a joint letter to the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee urging him to reject the Armenian Genocide resolution, in order not to jeopardize their sales to Turkey. These CEO’s have committed not only an immoral act by placing a higher premium on profits — blood money — over human rights, but also ignored the fact that Turkey cannot forego its purchases from their firms, because by doing so it would only weaken itself. Armenian-Americans should counter these firms by staging demonstrations in front of their headquarters and factories. Those employed by these firms should communicate their anger to the CEO’s of these firms. Stockholders should go to the next annual meeting of these companies to make their concerns known and seek removal of the CEO’s. Similar protest actions should be taken against the Aerospace Industries Association, which represents more than 270 member companies. The AIA sent a separate letter to Congress against the Armenian Genocide resolution.

    The Congressmen and companies who opposed the resolution on March 4 should pay a heavy price for their immoral act. Ignoring their negative votes and letters would encourage them to oppose the resolution again, when it reaches the House floor. If Armenian-Americans could cause the defeat of just one of these scoundrels in November, the rest of them will get the message that voting against genocide recognition can cost them their political careers. They will then think twice before casting such a vote.

    As far as Pres. Obama and Secretary Clinton are concerned, Armenian-Americans should not allow them to dictate to the U.S. Congress. Given the fact that most Americans are disillusioned with the failed policies and unfulfilled promises of the Obama administration, all elected officials nationwide are seriously worried about their re-election. This is the perfect time to demand action from politicians and punish those who do not cooperate. Armenian-Americans should contact their representatives in every congressional district throughout the country, even in remote areas, and tell them that unless they support the genocide resolution, they will not get their vote in November. Politicians would rather listen to the voices of their constituents than to Pres. Obama who is the main cause for their seats being in jeopardy. Therefore, the fate of the resolution is ultimately in the hands of Armenian-Americans. If they work hard and get enough congressional supporters, Speaker Pelosi would have no choice but to bring the resolution to the House floor, regardless of what the administration tells her to do. Otherwise, voters who are angry on many other issues could toss out of office the incumbents, jeopardizing her own speakership!

    Armenian-Americans should not forget to express their profound gratitude to Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and 22 other Congressmen who voted for the resolution on March 4. They are: Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Diane Watson (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Gene Green (D-TX), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Jim Costa (D-CA), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Donald Manzullo (R-IL), and Edward Royce (R-CA), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), and Ron Klein (D-FL). The Armenian community should enthusiastically support their re-election.

    Finally, some Turkish circles are consoling themselves simply because the resolution was adopted by a difference of one vote. Since House Committee members who opposed the resolution for unrelated reasons explicitly stated that they did not dispute the facts of the Armenian Genocide, the vote could have been 45 to 0, not 23-22, in terms of genocide acknowledgment — a great victory for the truth and a major defeat for Turkish denialists and their backers. No one should be surprised therefore, if in the coming days Turkish leaders cancel the multi-million dollar contracts of their failed lobbying firms!

  • GENOCIDE CHARGES DO NOT MAKE SENSE

    GENOCIDE CHARGES DO NOT MAKE SENSE

    To: Los Angeles Times, Editorial Board

    Re: “ Making sense of genocide “
    , Los Angeles Times, 8 March 2010; a rebuttal.

    GENOCIDE CHARGES DO NOT MAKE SENSE

    I will not get into the argument of whether it is good or bad for American interests today to pass judgment on others’ history of 100 years ago and a half world away when we have not faced our own history about slavery, extermination (genocide?) of native Americans, extermination (genocide?) of civilians of Nagasaki and Hiroshima or Dresden, racist treatment of Asians, Latinos, and many other groups, and more.

    After all, if the 23 U.S. Congressmen and women in the House Foreign Affairs Committee did not care about the US interests when they irresponsibly voted yes to pass a bogus genocide resolution on March 4, 2010, despite last minute discouragements and warnings from Secretary Clinton, why should I, a humble individual American citizen?

    “ Turkey needs to come to grips with its bloody past so it can move forward in its relations with Armenia and the U.S.” pontificates the high and mighty editorial board of Los Angeles times but makes no attempt to produce or mention any court verdict to support its judgment of genocide. It does not, because it cannot. It cannot because there is not any.

    All this genocide talk, therefore, is little more than a racist and dishonest version of history rammed down the throats of unsuspecting public, perhaps with the best of intentions, but then again, perhaps not. It is like a crusade of sorts by some holier-than-thou opinion thugs, some big media bullies, and their fellow Turk-haters in media, academia, and politics. They may rule the waves in shaping public opinion but are powerless to change the truth about the past.

    The plain truth is the Ottoman-Armenians took up arms against their own government and staged not just one, but many bloody revolts between 1877 and 1915. The last one, The Van Revolt on April 1915, broke the camel’s back. That was the 9/11 for the Ottoman Empire. The Armenian thugs, paramilitaries, and other irregulars, armed to the teeth, first killed up to 40,000 Muslims in Van then turned over the city to the invading Russian armies. How big is that?

    Consider this: The United States went to war across the oceans, in a place halfway across the world called Afghanistan, against a group of nameless, faceless terrorists for much, much less than that… in the 21st Century. Why is it wrong for the Ottoman Empire to do the same to its own terrorists with well known names and faces… in the 20th Century?

    Besides, the latter did not bomb to smithereens all cities in the regions involved (Van, Mush, Bitlis, and others) killing many civilians and chalked it off casually to “collateral damage” like the U.S. did in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, the Ottoman Empire moved the treasonous elements to deny them their logistic support in their community, which unfortunately, openly and widely supported such violence against their own neighbors, government, and state, at a time of war of survival and brutal foreign invasions, no less.

    This wartime measure, taken as a homeland security action in the face of a series of horrific rebellions by Armenians, was TERESET— short for temporary resettlement of 1915—which is now deliberately misrepresented as genocide by Armenian falsifiers and their fellow Turk haters. Genocide is a political claim, unproven by any competent tribunal, unsubstantiated by untainted historical evidence, and unjustified by moral values .

    Some 70 American historians and researchers, world renown experts like Bernard Lewis of Princeton, Stanford Shaw of UCLA, Mango of London, and many others among them, signed a public statement published in the New York Times and Washington Post on May 19, 1985, trying to knock some sense into the myopic and selfish politicians promoting a bogus genocide then, reminding that politicians make history and historians write it. For this process to work, they said, archives must be opened, unmolested research allowed, peer review and debate encouraged, and a civilized atmosphere to explore the controversy established. Current research, they argued, pointed to the fact that it was a “…inter communal warfare fought by Christian and Muslim irregulars…” , not genocide. “We do not wish to minimize the Armenian suffering,” they added, “but we are also cognizant that it cannot be viewed as separate from the Muslims suffering” in the same era and area and due to same wartime conditions.

    Editorials boards, first starting at the Boston Globe in 2003, then spreading into the New York Times and finally to the Los Angeles Times, under intense Armenian pressure and intimidation, and armed with no court verdict and in total disregard for the “six T’s of the Turkish Armenian conflict”, rule that the controversy shall be labeled genocide. Thus, Armenian propaganda, agitation, terror, raids, feuds, attacks, revolts, treason, territorial demands, and Turkish deaths at the hands of Armenia insurgents, and more, in pretty much in that order from 1877 to 1915 and beyond, all swept under the rug to sanitize their genocide claim so that it would stick. I call this ethocide, extermination of ethics via malicious mass deception by individuals or groups for political, economical, social, and other gain.

    Ethocidal coverage of the Turkish Armenian conflict have reached gargantuan dimensions as Armenian propaganda obliterated critical thinking, replaced scholarship with friendship, and facts with myths. Even the records of the U.S. Congress are not immune to the falsification attempts of the Armenians lobby: General Hubbard report of 1920 mentions refined Armenian brutalities victimizing Muslims, not race extermination of Armenians as touted. Furthermore, House Resolution 192 dated 22 April 1922 certifies and celebrates that the there are 1,414,000 Armenian alive as of 31 December 1921, making a genocide technically impossible and refuting such claims until eternity. Do you think honest truth seekers should be given a chance to learn the other side of the story based on rock solid evidence such as these? The truth is not in millions of propaganda documents but in those “tidbits” of information hidden in a few documents that the genocide promoters overlook.

    That said, can the Los Angeles Times editorial board answer one simple question, as a service to its unsuspecting readers of nothing else, since the former knows everything there is to know about the “alleged” genocide”:

    How many Muslims, mostly Turks, were killed by the Armenians during WWI and how many of those even before 24 April 1915?

    I wish I could see the faces in the editorial board now—deer in headlights— frantically calling each other for the answer. The know-it-all, high-and-mighty opinion-makers are blindsided by this simplest of the question which readily exposes how little the editors really know (or care) about the other side of the story … which they continue to censor as you read these lines.

    Sincerely,

    ***

    To read more:

    1) Ethocide (malicious mass deception for political gain): www.ethocide.com

    2) Armenian falsifications: www.tallarmeniantale.com

    3) Armenian distortions: www.ataa.org

    4) Armenian propaganda exposed: www.historyoftruth.com

    5) Armenian treason and terrorism: www.turkla.com

    6) Armenian revolts and demands: www.armenians-1915.blogspot.com

    7) Middle East Policy, Book Reviews, Volume XVII, Spring 2010, Number 1, “ Ermeni Meselesi Hallolunmuştur: Osmanlı Belgelerine Göre Savaş Yıllarında Ermenilere Yönelik Politikalar “ [The Armenian Question Resolved: Policies Toward the Armenians in the War Years according to Ottoman Documents], Reviewed by Erman Şahin (The Armenian lobby’s poster boy of sorts and paid Armenian-agent Taner Akcam’s shoddy propaganda work is scholarly dissected)

    ***
    The following data sources was compiled by Sukru Server Aya:

    8) Armenian lies, Parts 1 & 2:

    9) Armenian lies, Part 3:

    10) General Harbord Report :
    https://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2009/04/2813-conditions-in-near-east-report-of.html

    11) “Genocide Of Truth”, by Sukru Server Aya, ISBN 9789 756516249, , a new free e-book based on neutral or anti-Turkish sources:

    12) “WHY ARMENIA SHOULD BE FREE” Boston 1918, book by G. Pastermadjian, formerly a terrorist involved in the raiding of the Ottoman Bank in Istanbul in 1896; returned to Turkey in 1908 after declaration of the second Constitution; got elected as Congressman from Erzurum; then revolted and became one of the top Revolution leaders; escaped to USA after Armenia was Sovietized; wrote this book as a proud record of braveries (and confessing to Armenian war crimes and hate crimes in the process); later became the USA ambassador for the Armenian Republic which was founded as a protectorate of The Ottoman Empire in early 1919. Many excerpts and original photos of Armenian crimes much censored in the West:
    Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2007/11/2187-book-excerpts-pastermadjians-why.html

    13) “THE ARMENIAN QUESTION Before the Peace Conference”, report submitted by the Armenian delegation on Feb. 26th, 1919. (Confession of Armenian war crimes, clarification and admission of Armenian hate crimes and acts of treason involved in Armenian revolts and territorial demands engulfing more than half of Anatolia, to be freed from non-Christian elements (!):
    Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2008/06/2512-free-e-book-armenian-question.html

    14) “ARMENIA and the Settlement” Booklet , for the minutes of a conference held in London on June 19, 1919 by prominent pro-Armenian Dignitaries, confessing to anti-Turkism and support of British politicians: Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2009/02/2750-armenia-and-settlement.html

    15) “NEAR EAST RELIEF REPORT” Joint resolution of the U.S. Senate & Congress, accepted unanimously on April 22, 1922. The contents of this official document belies the arguments and reasons enlisted in U.S. House Resolution 252 : Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2008/02/2335-free-e-book-near-east-relief.html

    16) Adjustment of Payments due to United States by Turkey, Sept. 1937. Document of the settlement of all claims between the United states and the Ottoman Empire which makes further indemnity claims by American citizens today impossible, a fact not know, ignored, or dismissed by eternally daydreaming Armenian extremists :
    Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2008/11/2644-free-consolation-versus-frail.html

    17) Order of the Court Case, European Court of Justice Dec. 17.2003, court unanimously rejected an application demanding payment “of indemnities and refusal of Turkey’s acceptance into E.U. unless she accepts the ‘genocide allegation’, based on a decision of the European Parliament back in 1987”. Court resolved that 1987 resolution is a political declaration that can change in time, cannot therefore, have binding legal consequences for other institutions. For details see:
    Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2007/04/1594-grgoire-krikorian-and-others-v.html

  • Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of Armenia, Vigen Sargsyan Undermines Armenia’s National Security

    Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of Armenia, Vigen Sargsyan Undermines Armenia’s National Security

    appo
    By Appo Jabarian

    Executive Publisher / Managing Editor
    USA Armenian Life Magazine

    In February, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan visited the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, to discuss the prospects and “potential benefits of normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia,” according to the CSIS website.

    During the question-and-answer session, in response to a question from Mr. Kazari of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Washington, DC, Mr. Sargsyan astonishingly said the following regarding the current Armenian-Azeri border: “All those important parts of the borders can be de-blocked. Our immediate borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan have nothing to do with the territories around Nagorno Karabagh.”

    He continued: “Now as far as the occupation, our concerns are very much in favor [of] … what is important [is that] the president of Armenia [Serzh Sargsyan], who was the Minister of Defense of these territories, has always stated that he does not think of these territories as historic Armenian lands. He always stated that these territories have to return to Azerbaijan when the settlement of Nagorno-Karabagh is found.”

    In reference to the controversial former Foreign Minister of Armenia, Mr. V. Sargsyan added: “Vardan Oskanyan’s reference to the word of ‘occupied territories’ [ignited] big internal discussions on what he has to do” to mitigate the negative outcome in the mass media.

    As many readers recall, in September 2007, I had called for Mr. Oskanyan’s resignation or dismissal as Foreign Minister of Armenia. The article was disseminated through several news outlets around the globe.

    In that article, I wrote: “Oskanyan has been Foreign Minister for too long, without having achieved any substantial gains for Armenia. Furthermore, Armenia squandered away many valuable opportunities for diplomatic gains in the international arena and even sustained self-inflicted damages thanks to Mr. Oskanyan’s mishandling of several cases at the United Nations and elsewhere. It is absurd that the foreign minister … mislabels the liberated Armenian lands as ‘occupied’ territories. … Isn’t it time for a change? The political landscape is shifting. We need more proactive leaders in Armenia.”

    Is Mr. V. Sargsyan aware that the territories surrounding mountainous Artsakh have always been part of Armenia?

    The now-liberated territories around Artsakh are part of the entire Region of Artsakh that extends to the Kura River, just east of the border between the Republic of Artsakh and the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan.

    As Mr. V. Sargsyan should know, the Artsakh Region along with Nakhitchevan was arbitrarily carved out of the 1918-1920 independent Republic of Armenia. These regions were part of Armenia up until its takeover by the Soviet occupation forces in November 1920.

    In 1921, soon after Sovietization, Armenia was subjected to the process of “Stalinization” when the infamous Soviet Dictator Josef Stalin “gifted” the entire Region of Artsakh with its lowlands and highlands; and Nakhitchevan to the then newly created Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.

    Presently, the Republic of Azerbaijan continues to illegally occupy 1) The northern Artsakh district of Shahumian; and Gandzak (Kirovabad); 2) the outlying lowlands that extend to Kura River; and 3) Nakhitchevan.

    One wonders if Pres. Serzh Sargsyan is aware of his Deputy Chief of Staff V. Sargsyan’s latest serious international blunder (to say the least), undermining Armenia’s national security interests during a lecture in Washington, DC.

    By using the misleading term “occupation,” Mr. V. Sargsyan should feel ashamed for having committed an act of blasphemy against the memory of thousands of innocent Armenian victims of the 1988 Azeri pogroms in Baku, Sumgait and Gandzak/Kirovabad and their deportation staged by Azerbaijan.

    Mr. V. Sargsyan also disrespected the memory of countless freedom fighters that liberated Artsakh from the Azeri yoke during the Artsakh Liberation War (1991-1994) which was in response to the 1988 Azeri crimes against defenseless Armenians.

    While still on the job, Mr. Sargsyan should steer away from or remain unswayed by the influence of neo-con enablers in various academic/diplomatic circles, such as the one inside the Fletcher School of Diplomacy which he graduated from.

    Interestingly, during recent years, the Fletcher School of Diplomacy has been serving as the farming grounds for spineless Armenian diplomats, among them former Foreign Minister Oskanyan.

    To President Serzh Sargsyan’s credit, as soon as he took the helm of Armenia’s leadership in 2008, he decommissioned Foreign Minister Oskanyan because of his dismal performance.

    It would only be logical, if Pres. Sargsyan were to deal with Mr. V. Sargsyan, the way he dealt with Mr. Oskanyan. May be, Mr. V. Sargsyan should not even wait – he should present his letter of resignation sooner rather than later.

    To listen to Mr. V. Sargsyan’s comments at CSIS, please fast-forward to the last 5 minutes of his remarks, by using the following link: ).
    Audio file icon is located under the heading: “Audio: The Prospects for Armenia-Turkey Normalization: The View from Yerevan”

  • US Congress panel ‘Armenian genocide’ vote wrong

    US Congress panel ‘Armenian genocide’ vote wrong

    Baroness Sarah Ludford Ingiliz Liberal Party Avrupa Milletvekili – soyledikleri cok guzelkendisine tesekkur edelim assagidaki yazisi icin (emaili var)

    Haluk
    Turkish Forum, Ingiltere

    YONETIM KURULU ADINA

    —–Original Message——————————————————————————————
    From: Sarah Ludford MEP (Lon) <Office@sarahludfordmep.org.uk>
    To: grassroots@turkishnews.com; turkish-forum-advisory-board@googlegroups.com

    Sent: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 10:02
    Subject: US Congress panel ‘Armenian genocide’ vote wrong
    liberal democrats

    NEWS RELEASE

    BARONESS SARAH LUDFORD

    MEP Liberal Democrat MEP for London

    www.sarahludfordmep.org.uk

    Date: Monday 8 March 2010

    Contact:

    Sarah Ludford or Sonia Dunlop +44 (0)20 7288 2526 or Mobile +44 (0)7970 795 278

    Email: office@sarahludfordmep.org.uk

    US Congress panel ‘Armenian genocide’ vote wrong

    London Liberal Democrat MEP Sarah Ludford, the party’s European justice & human rights spokeswoman and vice-chair of the European Parliament delegation to the United States, has strongly criticised the vote by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives to label the treatment of Armenians in 1915 as ‘genocide’.

    She said:   “Both the US and the EU have backed the welcome moves to set up a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia to try and establish the truth about the tragic and large-scale wartime deaths almost a century ago. It makes no sense for outsiders in Europe or America to wade in with hobnail boots and prejudge the outcome of that sensitive exercise.”

    “That there were deportations which entailed atrocities and deaths of many Christian Armenians is not in doubt. But the precise actions, the 1915 war context, and the extent of reciprocal killings of Muslim Turks all need to be better understood.”

    “The term genocide has a very narrow meaning under the 1948 Convention: the deliberate intent to destroy an ethnic, national, racial or religious group. It is deeply irresponsible to use that term without establishing the full facts about the Armenian case and to leave the suspicion that politics or even religious prejudice is a motive.

    That is why as an MEP I have always refused to define the events of 1915 and preferred to await the conclusion of honest and objective research. That is not a cop-out, it is acting with integrity.”

    “The Congressional vote was won by the narrowest of margins, 23 to 22. I hope that in those circumstances wisdom will prevail, with Congressmen heeding the call of President Obama and Secretary Clinton not to progress this to a vote of the full House.”

    END

    ===========================================================

    The Right Honourable
    Sarah, Lady Ludford
    MEP
    225px Sarah Ludford MEP at Bournemouth

    Member of the European Parliament
    for London
    Incumbent
    Assumed office
    1999

    Born 14 March 1951 (1951-03-14) (age 58)
    Nationality British
    Political party Liberal Democrat
    Spouse(s) Steve Hitchins
    Alma mater London School of Economics

    Sarah Ann Ludford, Baroness Ludford (born 14 March 1951) is a Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament and a nonvoting member of the House of Lords (where her voting membership is suspended during her MEP tenure).

    She was made a Life peer as Baroness Ludford, of Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington in 1997.

    A former councillor in the London Borough of Islington, and married to the former leader of the council, Steve Hitchins, she was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in the European Parliament election, 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and in 2009 representing London.

    Because of the change in the rules of the European Parliament, she is not entitled to sit in the Lords due to her re-election to the European Parliament in the 2009 election. In October 2008, Parliament’s rules were changed so that if a member of the Lords were elected as an MEP, their right to sit and vote in the Lords would be suspended. This satisfies the new European Parliament rules and hence, Lady Ludford, the only person to whom this applies, is not allowed to vote in the Lords while an MEP.

    She is a member of the Liberal Democrat groups Friends of Israel and Friends of Turkey.

    [edit] External links

    • Sarah Ludford MEP official site
    • Sarah Ludford profile at the European Parliament
    • Sarah Ludford profile at the site of the Liberal Democrats

    Ludford: Senatonun Kararı ‘Korkunç’

    Avrupa Parlamentosu Üyesi İngiliz Milletvekili Sarah Ludford, ABD Temsilciler Meclisi Dış İlişkiler Komisyonu’nun Aldığı Kararı Eleştirdi. Kararın Yanlış Olduğunu Söyleyen Sarah Ludford, “Türkiye Ve Ermenistan Bu Olayın Araştırılması Için Bir Tarih Komisyonunun Kurulması Konusunda Anlaşmışken, Soykırım Iddialarını Yargılamak Ne ABD Ne De AB’nin Işi Olmalı.” Dedi.

    1915 Yıllarında Büyük Toplulukların Göçe Zorlandığı Bir Sırada Acı Ölümlerin Yaşandığını Belirten Ludford, “Bu Sırada Çok Sayıda Hıristiyan Ermeni’nin Öldüğünden Hiç Kimsenin Şüphesi Yok. Ancak 1915 Olayları Daha İyi Analiz Edildiğinde Müslüman Türklerin Öldürülmesi Olayının Da Anlaşılması Gerekiyor.” Ifadesini Kullandı.

    Soykırım Sözünün 1948 Konvansiyonu’na Göre Çok Net Bir Anlamı Olduğunu Sözlerine Ekleyen Ludford, Bir Milleti, Irkı Ya Da Dini Bir Grubu Kasten Ve Sistematik Bir Şekilde Ortadan Kaldırma Durumunda Ancak Soykırımdan Bahsedilebileceğini Söyledi. 1915 Yılındaki Ermeni Iddialarını Araştırmadan Ve Konuyu Bilmeden Bu Sözcüğü Kullanmanın Tam Bir ‘Sorumsuzluk’ Olduğunu Vurgulayan Ludford, “Bir Milletvekili Olarak Ben Bu Yüzden Her Zaman 1915 Olaylarını ‘Soykırım’ Olarak Adlandırmaktan Kaçındım Ve Bu Konudaki Bağımsız Araştırmaların Sonucunu Bekledim. Bu Sorumluluktan Kaçma Ya Da Bir Uydurma Değil. Bu Dürüst Olmak Demektir.” Diye Konuştu.

    Dış İlişkiler Komisyonu’nun Bir Oy Farkla Bu Kararı Aldığını Hatırlatan Ludford, Sağ Duyunun Galip Gelmesini, Kongre Üyelerinin ABD Başkanı Barack Obama Ve Dışişleri Bakanı Hillary Clinton Ile Birlikte Bu Tasarıyı Temsilciler Meclisi’ne Gelmesini Engellemeyi Umduğunu Dile Getirdi.

  • Mikhail Gorbachov: Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be part of Azerbaijan

    Mikhail Gorbachov: Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be part of Azerbaijan

    11:00 / 03/06/2010 The first and last president of the Soviet Union
    Mikhail Gorbachov admits that Nagorno-Karabakh was in a lamentable
    state in 1980s, but the authorities did not pay any attention to the
    region. `It was even impossible to get in touch with, say, Yerevan,
    and Nagorno-Karabakh was not financed,’ Gorbachov said in his
    interview with RFE/RL.

    Speaking of the ways of settling the conflict, the former Soviet
    leader pointed out that nobody wins in such conflicts. `An agreement
    should have been reached, and we would have resolved the problem
    somehow in late 1980,’ Gorbachov said.

    `For example, I proposed republic status for Nagorno-Karabakh. The
    then Azeri authorities ‘ I think Vezirov ` were on the point of
    agreeing, but the plan failed. May be the problem could be resolved at
    that time, but we cannot imagine Nagorno-Karabakh as part of
    Azerbaijan now,’ Gorbachov said.

    `We can hear new calls for war now. But a new war must not be allowed
    in Nagorno-Karabakh. Negotiations are the only way out. War must be
    ruled out; otherwise, great powers will be involved,’ he said.

    `I think measures should have been taken to grant status to
    Nagorno-Karabakh. Economic assistance should have been rendered as
    well. People should have been enabled to keep touch with Yerevan. We
    allocated funds for Karabakh later, I do not know how they were spent.
    At that time they told me I loved Armenians and did not love
    Azerbaijanis. Nonsense!’ said Gorbachov.

    On the occasion of the 28th anniversary of perestroika (the policy of
    reconstructing the economy, etc., of the former Soviet Union under the
    leadership of Mikhail Gorbachov), the Gorbachov Fund released a
    report. According to the authors, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is
    among the causes of the USSR’s collapse. The authors points out that
    the problem was the result of erroneous policy at the dawn of the
    Soviet state.

    T.P.

  • Was the 1915 killing of Armenians genocide?

    Was the 1915 killing of Armenians genocide?

    with responce from YUKSEL OKTAY

    06 March 2010

    The Question Is Debatable, But It’s Not For The Us Congress To Decide

    by Stephen Kinzer


    Genocide Vote Harms Us-Turkey TiesFor the US house of representatives foreign affairs committee to decide that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide, as it did Thursday by a one-vote margin, would be acceptable and even praiseworthy if it were part of a serious historical effort to review all the great atrocities of modern history. But the singling out of Turks for censure, among all the killers of the 20th century, is something quite different. This vote was a triumph of emotion, a victory for ethnic lobbying, and another example of the age-old American impulse to play moral arbiter for the world.

    Turkey recalled its ambassador in Washington immediately after the vote, which was broadcast live on Turkish television. The resolution now goes to the full House of Representatives. Given the pull of moneyed politics, and President Obama’s unwillingness or inability to bring Congress to heel on this issue, as Presidents Bush and Clinton did, it could pass. That would provoke much anger in Turkey, and might weaken the US-Turkish relationship at the precise moment when the US needs to strengthen it.

    In the past few years, Turkey has taken on a new and assertive role in the Middle East and beyond. Turkey can go places, talk to factions, and make deals that the US cannot. Yet it remains fundamentally aligned with western values and strategic goals. No other country is better equipped to help the US navigate through the region’s treacherous deserts, steppes and mountains.

    Would it be worth risking all of this to make a clear moral statement? Perhaps. What emerged from Washington this week, though, was no cry of righteous indignation. Various considerations, including the electoral power of Armenian-Americans, may have influenced members of Congress. It is safe to surmise, however, that few took time to weigh the historical record soberly and seek to place the Ottoman atrocity in the context of other 20th century massacres.

    Two questions face Congress as it considers whether to call the 1915 killings genocide. The first is the simple historical question: was it or wasn’t it? Then, however, comes an equally vexing second question: is it the responsibility of the US Congress to make sensitive judgments about events that unfolded long ago? The first question is debatable, the second is not.

    Congress has neither the capacity nor the moral authority to make sweeping historical judgments. It will not have that authority until it sincerely investigates other modern slaughters – what about the one perpetrated by the British in Kenya during the 1950s, documented in a devastating study that won the 2006 Pulitzer prize? – and also confronts aspects of genocide in the history of the United States itself. Doing this would require an enormous amount of largely pointless effort. Congress would be wiser to recognise that it does not exist to penetrate the vicissitudes of history or dictate fatwas to the world.

    This vote has already harmed US-Turkish relations because it has angered many Turks. If the resolution proceeds through Congress, it will cause more harm. This is lamentable, because declining US-Turkish relations will be bad for both countries and for the cause of regional stability. Just as bad, the vote threatens to upset the fragile reconciliation that has been underway between Turkey and Armenia in recent months.

    In this episode is encapsulated one of the timeless truths of diplomacy. Emotion is the enemy of sound foreign policy; cool consideration of long-term self-interest is always wiser. Congress seems far from realising this. . .

    Genocide ruling harms US-Turkey relations | Stephen Kinzer

    This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 00.28 GMT on Friday 5 March 2010

    =================================================================

    Open Letter to Stephen Kinzer, long time student of Turkish Affairs and the first New York Times Bureau Chief in Istanbul (1995-2000) and a great guy. Thursday 4 March 2009, Flemington, NJ – Saturday 6 March, Washington, NJ

    Your article below was timely and has merits. However, I believe it is time for you to bite the bullet and declare to the world that the events of 1915 can not be labeled as genocide, which I believe you also believe deep in your heart, have but not stated openly in your article. So should Guenther Levy, who wrote an excellent book “Armenian gencide” but rather than stating the positive statement based on all the information presented in his definitive work, he referred to as “Disputed genocide.”. Now, a dozen concerned Turkish-Americans, led by a retired IBM Engineer and flier Sevgin Oktay have published a series of 4 page brochures on the falsifications by a number of Armenian organizations and individuals, which leaves the question to the reader whether it was a genocide or not. I believe it is time for these concerned people and the Turkish-Americans (146,000 according to the new Turkish Ambassador who was recalled to Ankara after the HCFA vote), to stop beating around the bush and face the facts and declare to President Obama, the prime mover of the, that the Armenians fired the first shot, pursued the establishment of a state of their own on lands where they were never the majority through rebellions, took arms against their own government and led uprisings and massacres of Turks, joined the Russian and French Forces even after 1915 when many returned to Turkey from Syria and the USA while hundreds and thousands stayed in the Caucauses, which most Armenians and their blind supporters do not want to talk about.

    Who ever reads your article and other publications, and ponder on the question, they will probably answer, “Yes, it was a genocide”, just like the 23 members out of 46 led by a fanatic of the House Foreign Relations Committee did on March 4, 2009, a dark page on the US Congress history, probably because all their lives, they have been continuously exposed to the Armenian propaganda, who were elated by the one vote win. I am sure all of them must have visited the US Holocaust Museum in WDC which exhibits the fabricated Hitler statement on “Who remembers the Annihilation of Armenians” (visited by 2.5 million visitors every year,) and now the untruthful “Morgenthau Exhibit” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York”, scheduled to run until the end of 2010, competing with Istanbul as the Cullture Capital of Europe 2010. If they have also read 1915 Ambassador Henry Morgenthau’s “Story Book”, and the Israeli Ambassador to US book on 230 year history of America without mentioning the Turkish contributions, Peter Balakian’s book “The Burning Tigris” and the play, “Beast on the Moon” being stage every year near April 24, how can they not answer “yes” to your question, not knowing the truth.

    Probably the best authority in the world on the Armenian issue is Prof. Dr. Turkkaya Ataov, the retired Prof of International Affairs who has written more than 100 books and hundreds of articles about the Armenian issue and has given confrences all over the world, from the US to England to Australia,  with genuine documents not faked and fabricated ones being used by most Armenian organizations, the last count according to the late Hrant Dink, over 26,000, some of which will be exposed as another brochure by the. I would humbly recommend that Prof. Ataov should appear on US Media and also, instead of asking a similar question on the Armenian issue, “What happened in 1915”, he too should state the truth about the Srmenian revolts that led to the re-location of Armenians, not deportations, as Turkish Ambassador namik tan erroneously stated in the 10 minute CBS program.

    Many individuals and organizations are asking, “What next?” My humble recommendation would be to write to both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to bring the Resolution to the floor and to President Obama, to stop his support to the Resolution, and to the American people through lectures at Universities (one place would be the March 13, MIT Conference), appearnecs on TV and articels in the media.

    Respectfully,

    Yuksel Oktay

    Open Letter to the Chairman Howard L. Berman and the 46 Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on, “Battle over History’’, aired by CBS 60 Minute, Feb. 28, 2010

    Part III

    February 28, 2010

    Open Letter to Andy Rooney, the Commentator on CBS 60 Minute Program, on “Battle over History’’, aired by CBS 60 Minute, today, Sunday at 19:00 PM, Feb. 28, 2010

    Andy Rooney,

    CBS 60 Minute Commentator

    New York, NY

    Dear Mr. Rooney,

    Your commentary at the end of the 60 Minute program today was excellent, as usual. You were right in questioning the wisdom of including all those questions in the 2010 Census Form. I don’t know if you watched the entire 60 Minute program, especially the segment called “Battle over History”, the 10 minute segment prepared by E. Goushon and Drew Moughathan, which was full of fabricated stories, distorted facts, and not a good one. In fact, it was a disgrace to TV journalism, in which CBS is good at. In fact, probably the best program on TV is the “Sunday Morning” originated by Charles H Kuralt who would neverallow the showing of a one sided story on his program. Just like you questioned the Cencus Form, I would like to question the allegations in the “Battle of History”, if possible, with your help, which was more like “ Battle over History with Fabrications, Forged Documents, and Armenian Distortion of Facts”

    For years, 60 Minutes has been presenting excellent segments on many subjects that the public has cherished over and over again. I still remember the segment that was presented some years ago on Ahmet Ertegun, a Turkish-American and a music mogul who made Charles Ray famous along with many African-American musicians over the years. He is now buried in a small grave in Uskudar, Istanbul, but his contributions to the American society will never be forgotten.

    The 10 minute segment “Battle of History “, was full of fabrications, forged documents and distorted facts, as a result of which, the truth was lost. In 10 minutes, the entire Turkish nation was convicted of a crime which has never been proven in an International Court. Peter Balakian made a new revelation that 400,000 Armenians died in   , which is a fabrication. Many of the re-located Armenians did arrive in and all of them were given homes, land and money. Armenians were given an option to return to Turkey in 1916 and 1917, and many did, in fact some joining the French forces and fighting against the Ottoman Empire. The descendants of the re-located Armenians who chose to live in Syria and Lebanon make up a large portion of the 8 million Diaspora Armenians. These facts were not mentioned in the presentation.

    Just one site was shown along the Euphrates, claiming that the bones were everywhere, which is questionable after 95 years. Perhaps they were just placed there for the program.  The Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy was not given an opportunity to tell the truth, since he appeared for less than a minute, and erroneouslyreferred to the re-settlement as deportations. The Hitler statement that Peter Balakian loves to state at every occasion is a total fabrication which has been proven to be false. The reference to genocide scholars is also distortion of facts since these people are self appointed individuals without any credentials to pass a judgament on what happened 95 years ago. The murder of Hrant Dink was condemned by everyone in Turkey when 100,000 Turks walked behind his coffin, including this writer.

    The 10 minute segment was broadcast as a propaganda material to influence the 46 members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee before their vote on the fabricated Armenian genocide resolution on March 4, 2010. I will venture to say that, if they watched this segment, they will not believe all the falsifications and vote “NO” to the Resolution. Below is a letter that I sent to the members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and I hope you too will read it.  And I hope you will have a talk with Bob Simon who put this segment on 60 Minutes, tarnishing its reputation. It would be wise if CBS 60 Minute airs “Armenian Revolt”, a documentary made by an American, which tells the truth about the Armenian issue.

    Respectfully.

    Yuksel Oktay

    Concerned American with Turkish Heritage and Past President,

    Federation of Turkish-American Associations, NY (1973)

    Saturday, 27 February 2010

    Washington, NJ